Here we have identified a surface protein, TIGIT, containing an immunoglobulin variable domain, a transmembrane domain and an immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibitory motif that was expressed on regulatory, memory and activated T cells. Poliovirus receptor, which is expressed on dendritic cells, bound TIGIT with high affinity. A TIGIT-Fc fusion protein inhibited T cell activation in vitro, and this was dependent on the presence of dendritic cells. The binding of poliovirus receptor to TIGIT on human dendritic cells enhanced the production of interleukin 10 and diminished the production of interleukin 12p40. Knockdown of TIGIT with small interfering RNA in human memory T cells did not affect T cell responses. TIGIT-Fc inhibited delayed-type hypersensitivity reactions in wild-type but not interleukin 10-deficient mice. Our data suggest that TIGIT exerts immunosuppressive effects by binding to poliovirus receptor and modulating cytokine production by dendritic cells.

Antibody-drug conjugates (ADC), potent cytotoxic drugs covalently linked to antibodies via chemical linkers, provide a means to increase the effectiveness of chemotherapy by targeting the drug to neoplastic cells while reducing side effects. Here, we systematically examine the potential targets and linker-drug combinations that could provide an optimal ADC for the treatment for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. We identified seven antigens (CD19, CD20, CD21, CD22, CD72, CD79b, and CD180) for potential treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma with ADCs. ADCs with cleavable linkers mediated in vivo efficacy via all these targets; ADCs with uncleavable linkers were only effective when targeted to CD22 and CD79b. In target-independent safety studies in rats, the uncleavable linker ADCs showed reduced toxicity, presumably due to the reduced release of free drug or other toxic metabolites into the circulation. Thus, our data suggest that ADCs with cleavable linkers work on a broad range of targets, and for specific targets, ADCs with uncleavable linkers provide a promising opportunity to improve the therapeutic window for

A mouse hybridoma antibody directed against a member of the TNF-superfamily, lymphotoxin alpha (LT-α), was isolated from stored mouse ascites and purified to homogeneity. After more than a decade of storage the genetic material was not available for cloning, however biochemical assays with the ascites showed this antibody against LT-α (LT-3F12) to be a pre-clinical candidate for the treatment of several inflammatory pathologies. We have successfully rescued the LT-3F12 antibody by performing mass spectrometric analysis, primary amino acid sequence determination by template proteogenomics, and synthesis of the corresponding recombinant DNA by reverse engineering. The resurrected antibody was expressed, purified and shown to demonstrate the desired specificity and binding properties in a panel of immuno-biochemical tests. The work described herein demonstrates the powerful combination of high throughput informatic proteomic de novo sequencing with reverse engineering to re-establish monoclonal antibody expressing cells from archived protein sample, exemplifying the development of novel therapeutics from cryptic protein sources.